READING LIST: Speaking Mastery

If you are looking for a great book on public speaking and presentation skills, here it is: Speaking Mastery: The Keys to Delivering High Impact Presentations by David & Michael Hutchison.

The book is based on the author’s real-world, practical experience gained from over 1,000 presentations.

Part 1 focuses on how to deliver your message including your eye contact with the audience, your movement on stage, and tuning up your voice.

Part 2 focuses on the developing the content of your message including determining the point of your presentation, a great mind-mapping exercise for developing content, and getting the audience to commit to your purpose.

Part 3 focuses on building the “internal muscles” necessary to be a great public speaker including your identity, your thoughts and your emotions.  The tactics presented here can be applied to many areas of life, but are especially important for speakers who are uncertain about speaking or presenting in front of an audience.

Lessons from the Olympics

The Summer Olympics are over and already I miss watching these amazing athletes.  While watching the post-event interviews with the athletes, there were several themes that you can apply to your career:

• Practice is Everything – The athletes had practiced 8+ hours per day for many years in order to prepare for their event. How much time do you dedicate to practice for important meetings, presentations, speeches related to your career?  Do you practice the skills that are necessary for professional success such as writing, public speaking and networking?
• Individual Responsibility – Most of the athletes acknowledged the invaluable contribution and support of their coaches and teammates.  None of the athletes blamed anyone else for their own poor performance.   Do you take responsibility for your own career or do you blame your boss, colleagues or the organization when things don’t go your way?
• Focus and Excellence – Many of the athletes described a level of intense focus and standard of personal excellence that is often overlooked in today’s organizations.  Do you focus on your work like an athlete focuses on their game, event, competition?  What if you did?  What is the standard you set for yourself when it comes to you career?  Do you strive for excellence in your career?

These lessons from the Olympics are at the core of Career-ology.

Go Team USA!  See you in Buenos Aires in 2016.